633. Casey Michel - Trump Backs a Loser - Siding in UN with Putin, Illegality, Kleptocracy and Oligarchy.

Feb 25, 2025

Casey Michel, head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation, dives deep into the murky waters of illicit finance and authoritarian regimes. He discusses how U.S. policy changes under the Trump administration have empowered kleptocrats and impacted global democracy. Michel also highlights the chaotic modern news landscape and its effects on public perception. Additionally, he explores the troubling intersections of cryptocurrency, political power, and oligarchs, particularly in Ukraine's ongoing struggle for democracy.

Ask episode

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

Navigating the Chaos of Modern News Cycles

01:37 • 2min

Corruption and Power: Shifts in U.S. Policy

03:44 • 20min

Shifting Alliances: European Rearmament and American Influence

23:48 • 3min

Corruption and Cryptocurrency: The Financial Dynamics of Political Power

26:18 • 3min

Oligarchs and Ukrainian Democracy

29:03 • 12min

Casey Michel is head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation, focusing on how dictators and autocrats use illicit finance and dirty money to remain in power. He’s the author of AMERICAN KLEPTOCRACY, on America's transformation into an offshore haven. His new book, FOREIGN AGENTS, will examine the explosion of the foreign lobbying industry in Washington, and how that industry has helped entrench dictatorships and upend American foreign policy. FOREIGN AGENTS will be published in 2024.----------LINKS: https://x.com/cjcmichelhttp://www.caseymichel.com/https://read.macmillan.com/lp/american-kleptocracy/https://us.macmillan.com/author/caseymichel https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseymichel/----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.